diff --git a/find_replace.go b/find_replace.go
index 9bdbe79..535d225 100644
--- a/find_replace.go
+++ b/find_replace.go
@@ -124,6 +124,9 @@ func (fr *findReplace) WalkDir(f *File) {
 	}
 
 	for _, file := range files {
+		if file.Type()&os.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+			continue
+		}
 		childPath := filepath.Join(f.Path, file.Name())
 		childFile, err := NewFile(childPath)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -151,6 +154,12 @@ func (fr *findReplace) WalkDir(f *File) {
 // the rename step; the failure is returned so the walker can log it and
 // continue with siblings.
 func (fr *findReplace) HandleFile(f *File) error {
+	if li, err := os.Lstat(f.Path); err != nil {
+		return err
+	} else if li.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	info, err := f.Info()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/find_replace_test.go b/find_replace_test.go
index 9a54564..e13e5c7 100644
--- a/find_replace_test.go
+++ b/find_replace_test.go
@@ -660,6 +660,37 @@ func withWorkingDir(t *testing.T, dir string) {
 	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = os.Chdir(prev) })
 }
 
+
+func TestHandleFileSkipsSymlink(t *testing.T) {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skip("symlink test requires unix")
+	}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	target := filepath.Join(dir, "target.txt")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(target, []byte("secret"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	link := filepath.Join(dir, "link.txt")
+	if err := os.Symlink(target, link); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	f, err := NewFile(link)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	fr := findReplace{find: "secret", replace: "public"}
+	if err := fr.HandleFile(f); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	got, err := os.ReadFile(target)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if string(got) != "secret" {
+		t.Fatalf("symlink target modified: %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func CloneRepoToTestDir(b *testing.B, repoUrl string) *File {
 	b.Helper()
 	d := newTestDir(b, "", "*")